The other elephants rushed to meet the new baby, touching and smelling her with their trunks, all under the watchful eye of her protective mother. The move, which allows him to interact with other females, is not unlike what bull elephants experience in the wild. Elephants live in a matriarchal society, and males move in and out of herds for breeding purposes. Named in honor of Swaziland, she is the now the largest female in the herd. Swazi gave birth to her first, long-awaited calf—eMacembe, a male—on April 12, , and a female, Qinisa, on August 28, Wildlife care specialists suspect that Swazi's vision is not as acute as the other elephants; she is often startled by the less-dominant animals, sometimes even the calves.
Umngani is curious and eagerly participates in care sessions, often roaring at wildlife care specialists if her session ends too soon.
Umngani has the longest tusks in the herd, and her ears are often flared out as if she is listening. As beautiful as she is, though, she is also one of the messiest elephants in the herd. You can tell which wildlife care specialists have been working with her: they are frequently spackled with wet mud from her drippy trunk! She can often be seen in the water, and taking mud baths to cool down. The trunk is still a nose, too, and has two nostrils at the end that suck air up the long nasal passages and into the lungs.
Sounds of music. Elephants make many different sounds; humans cannot hear some of these sounds, as their frequency is too low for our ears. Elephants use these sounds to communicate with each other over long distances. Have you ever had your stomach growl at an unfortunate moment? The largest elephant on record was an adult male African savanna elephant.
He weighed about 24, pounds 10, kilograms and was 13 feet 3. Home is where the herd is. Asian elephants live in India, Nepal, and parts of Southeast Asia. Their habitat is scrub forest and rainforest, and they are often found along rivers during dry months.
African savanna elephants Loxodonta africana are found in eastern, central and southern Africa, living in lowland and montane forests, flood plains, and all types of woodland and savanna. The smaller African forest elephants Loxodonta cyclotis inhabit the Congo basin and western Africa in moist, semi-deciduous rainforests.
Elephants eat all types of vegetation, from grass and fruit to leaves and bark—about to pounds 75 to kilograms each day, which is about 4 to 6 percent of their body weight.
They spend an average of 16 hours per day eating! African elephants are grazer-browsers and eat grasses, including sedges, flowering plants, leaves, shrubs, and small- to medium-size trees. African forest elephants are browser-frugivores and eat leaves, fruits, seeds, branches, and bark. Asian elephants are both browsers feeding on shrubs and trees during the dry season and after heavy rains and grazers feeding on grass during the first part of the wet season. They can consume many types of plants, including twigs and bark.
The choice of plants varies with seasons. Still, the adult male African elephants at the Safari Park need to eat over 70, calories each day! Our elephants are offered hay, herbivore pellets, acacia browse, celery, cucumbers, and lettuce daily. Elephants drink 20 to 50 gallons 75 to liters of water each day. Most elephants live in close social groups called herds, usually made up of related females and their offspring. The leader of the herd is known as the matriarch; she is usually the oldest and most experienced female in the group.
The matriarch remembers where and how to find food and water, how to avoid predators, and the best places for shelter. She also keeps the younger elephants in line and teaches them how to behave in elephant society.
Adult males don't usually live in a herd. Once male elephants are old enough to find their own food and protect themselves, they leave the herd and live on their own or form bachelor herds with other males.
Only after they become adults do they visit herds of females, and that is only for short periods of time to breed. Bulls do not take part in caring for the young. Ellie etiquette. Good manners are important in elephant society. A trunk may be held out to an approaching elephant as a greeting and is also used in caressing, twining, wrestling, and checking reproductive status.
Stranger danger. Elephant calves could be a potential meal for hyenas, lions, leopards, or crocodiles, but as long as they stay near Mom or their herd, they have little to worry about. If an elephant senses danger, it trumpets a loud alarm call to alert the others. The herd then forms a protective ring, with youngsters in the middle and the adults facing out to confront a potential predator. At birth a baby elephant, called a calf, may stand three feet one meter tall.
A calf is usually quite hairy, with a long tail and a very short trunk, and is very dependent upon its mother and other members of the herd.
Calves stick close to Mom and nurse frequently; they gain, on average, 2 to 3 pounds 1 to 1. Herd mates tend to look out for the calves. Despite all the playtime and protection, calves still have to navigate through social nuances and establish their social rank within the herd. Babies spend their days practicing making all four legs go in the same direction at the same time, perfecting their ear flaring, and mastering trunk control.
Calves are clumsy at first with their trunk, but they learn to use it as they grow older. See what makes brunch at The Del legendary. Sign up to receive the latest news, events, and updates about San Diego. Our monthly and weekly newsletters will keep you informed about the latest and greatest happenings in the destination.
English Change Language. Elephant Cam Presented by Planet Zoo The Safari Park is home to nine African elephants—three adult females, and six calves and sub-adults ranging from 1 to 13 years old. Visit Website.
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